


At 15, She Learns

by akingnotaprincess



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Angst, Broken Bones, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Inspired by Poetry, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Pre-Season/Series 05, Slut Shaming, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-01
Updated: 2011-08-01
Packaged: 2020-10-28 15:41:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20781014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akingnotaprincess/pseuds/akingnotaprincess
Summary: His mother had asked him to keep a close watch on Amy.





	At 15, She Learns

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by one of my favorite poems, Fifteen, She Learns by Nicole Blackman. Snippets of the poem are in the fic.

His mother had asked him to keep a close watch on Amy. It was a request asked upon behalf of Amy's aunt, apparently. It wasn't really much of a request since they were best friends and he had harbored a crush on her for years, one that she didn't know about. 

She'd been acting strange lately. Anyone could see that. Her grades weren't what they used to be. She barely ate anymore and hardly slept, for that matter. Amy's aunt had no idea why Amy would come home late at night smelling of alcohol and have bruises. Rory knew. Everyone in their school knew who Amy was. He's tried to console her for the better part of a year about it with no luck. Amy was going down the wrong path and there was no turning back, it seemed.

__

_The slut always gets invited to the party last minute_  
like extra ice or beer. There’s a game and she’s in it.  
How long before she’s out and easy?  
It’s a blood sport, makes you queasy  
to think of it now doesn’t it?  
But every girl wants to be a hit.  
As I slide down the kitchen wall  
they watch to see how fast I fall. 

He's not sure why he still goes along with her games. Honestly, it shouldn't have stopped a long time ago. They're going to have to start studying for their A-Levels and looking for good colleges soon. Yet somehow, he's here in her backyard, in thrift shop clothes dressed as her imaginary Raggedy Doctor. You'd think they'd had nothing better do to over their summer hols.

Except… the game was different this time. They weren't playing by the script Amy wrote all those years ago. Something had changed.

_ At fifteen I had no choice and found my_  
skill wasn’t fucking, but flying from air to ground. I  
practiced at night in the backyard  
and when I fell on to the ground, hard,  
I kissed the dirt and remembered the taste  
of the basement, the creek, the disgrace.  
Choose sky or dirt,_ I said, _Choose sky or dirt,__  
and the next time I rose, I flew, and nothing hurt.

_All girls are born with wings.  
They never tell you these things._

Amy was sitting on a high branch in one of the trees, wearing a nightie that they had bought at the thrift shop along with his Raggedy Doctor costume. It looked almost exactly like one Amy had as a kid.

Rory watched as Amy spread out her arms and closed her eyes. She looked so blissful. "Save me, my Raggedy Doctor!" she cried out. 

"Erm… Amy? What are you doing?" he asked in a shaky voice. He was beginning to get scared. 

Amy opened her blazing eyes and pursed her lips. "_Rory_, you're not supposed to say that." She sighed and resumed her position as before. "I'm going to fly with you my Raggedy Doctor! I have to fly!"

Amy jumped.

Rory was screaming her name and running toward her before he knew it. His eyes were burning with tears. She was on the ground, hissing and holding her left arm across her chest. He was supposed to be _protecting_ her damn it. Why the fuck did he let her climb up that tree? Why had he let her persuade him to play their childhood game? God damn it. God damn it! He didn't care that he was going to get in trouble with his mum. All he cared about was _her_.

Rory cradled her and his mind rushed. What did those bloody tv doctors say? "Do you need any hot water?" he blurted.

Amy smiled up at him, but there was a hint of pain in her grin. "I flew." 

Rory shook his head. "You daft…" He left his sentence unfinished. He let his tears flow freely, not caring if it was unmanly. 

Amy reached up, touched his cheek with her good hand and wiped away his tears. "I'm _fine_." 

"But your—?"

"Yeah, I think it's broken." She winced as she attempted to move her left arm without success. "But I think I'm better now, Rory."

He didn't understand what she meant. It had to be the shock. "Stay here, okay? I'm going to ring an ambulance." Then he added, "And your aunt."

"Okay." She beamed. 

Rory laid her down on the ground as gently as possible, taking off his dress shirt and giving it to her as a makeshift pillow. As he ran back to the house, he turned back to make sure she hadn't budged. She hadn't, but he couldn't help but feel that lying there like that, with a sunbeam hitting her, that she looked like some kind of angel. 

_When I turned 15, I learned to fly,  
and finally learned how not to die._


End file.
